Betty Brown, the 92-year-old oldest surviving victim of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of her services to justice after campaigning against wrongful prosecutions. Brown and her late husband Oswall ran the Annfield Plain Post Office in County Durham from 1985 until 2003, when they were forced out after spending more than £50,000 of their savings to cover shortfalls that did not exist. She recently received her settlement from one of the government's compensation schemes.

Brown told BBC Breakfast that she accepted the recognition in the New Year Honours list on behalf of all the victims of the scandal. "Every one of them should have an OBE," she said. "Every one of them for what they've Post Office put us through and what we have stood solid and faithful for. I did it for justice."

The Horizon IT system, developed by Fujitsu, was implemented in Post Office branches starting in 1999. It was intended to streamline operations, but it contained critical flaws that led to accounting discrepancies. These discrepancies resulted in more than 900 sub-postmasters being wrongfully prosecuted for theft, fraud, and false accounting based on faulty data from the Horizon system. Thousands more faced financial ruin and reputational damage. The Post Office, maintaining the system's integrity, pursued these prosecutions despite growing evidence of the system's errors.

The scandal exposed a significant failure in algorithmic accountability. The Horizon system, a complex AI-driven tool, made decisions that directly impacted people's lives, yet its inner workings were opaque and difficult to audit. This raised concerns about the potential for bias and errors in AI systems, especially when used in high-stakes situations. The case highlights the importance of transparency, explainability, and independent oversight in the development and deployment of AI technologies.

The Post Office scandal has spurred calls for legal and regulatory reforms to protect individuals from the potential harms of AI systems. There is growing discussion about the need for independent audits of algorithms, the right to explanation for AI-driven decisions, and mechanisms for redress when AI systems cause harm. The UK government is currently considering legislation to address these issues, including proposals for an AI regulator.

The long-awaited settlement Brown received is part of the government's effort to compensate victims of the scandal. However, many victims are still awaiting full compensation, and the process has been criticized for being slow and complex. A public inquiry is ongoing to investigate the full extent of the scandal and to determine who was responsible for the wrongful prosecutions. The inquiry is expected to deliver its findings later this year.